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Dozer, The Wonder Dog

If there was a perfect dog for my farm, Dozer is definitely it. My daughter says that she would have gladly paid lots of money for this dog if we had had to buy it. But the way we got him makes him even more perfect. Read about that here.

I was told that he did not like it in the house. But first thing in the morning he likes to come in and sponge up some loving. That is also the only time that he tries to get on the bed. If I am in it, he wants to be there too. Have you ever had a Great Pyrenees lay on top of you? He is rather heavy. And that cold nose pressed against my face…….priceless.

And the other time that he almost insists on coming in is right before bed. And if he has not gotten the time that he feels he deserves then it is hard to get him outside. I like to brush him in the evening for a few minutes and then let him sleep for a while. When I am ready to put him out, he goes out the door and immediately tells the entire world that he is back on duty. Without fail. He barks about 4 or 5 times and then looks for something to protect.

For a couple of weeks now there has been something showing up in the middle of the night that really worries him. He barks but stays beside the house. Whatever it is he does not like. After a minute or so my GerLabSky starts whining at the door. I let him out and the two of them chase off whatever it is and everything gets quiet again. I would love to know what is out there. I may need to get a spotlight. Or…..I may not want to know.

During the day he is also an active guard dog. He chases crows and hawks but ignores flying chickens and ducks. And how does he know the difference? My daughter started yelling at him one afternoon thinking that he was barking at her horse, but I told her to see what he was looking at and there he was barking at a circling crow. I had a sick bunny out in the grass one day and he came over and sat beside her. I looked around and noticed that there was a hawk in a tree not far from us. He sat there until that hawk was gone. How did he know???

All my dogs go on the round of chores with me and they all wait their turn when I am throwing bread to everything. I break it into chunks and drop it on the ground for the ducks and free range chickens and they stand there waiting their turn. Dozer just stands there with all these little animals running around his feet without a thought of aggression.

If a vehicle drives up, he is on duty to tell me there is someone here. He looks formidable, but as soon as the door opens he is there looking for attention or checking out the occupants for safety. I don’t know which. He knows the difference between cars too. He knows when it is someone regular. That is when he barks a couple of times and then lets them alone. So when I am away from the house, I can tell if I have to come and greet a visitor or if it is someone that knows their way around. How cool is that? And I have also seen him not really want to let someone onto the place. So I am sure that if there was in danger, he would be there to protect me.

My four year old granddaughter loves to maul him. She has tried to ride him, sits on him when he is laying down, snuggles with him, bosses him around (not that he listens, but she tries), and can eat without getting her food snatched away. He gets really agitated when she goes down the driveway on her little tricycle. He is not supposed to go down there…..so she shouldn’t.

His eyes are expressive. They seem to have thought behind them. I don’t know what it is, but I am learning some of the ways that he communicates. He tried to tell me that I should go check the ducklings that were stuck in the pipe. He tried to tell me that the horse was foaling. What else have I missed that he was trying to tell me? I have to learn his language so that I miss fewer things.

He taught me not to go after him if he is being aggressive off the property. He decided to scare the neighbor down the hill and I went after him. He just saw me coming and walked quietly the other way……and kept going as long as I was trying to get to him. When I gave up and started for home, he followed right along. He has never gone down the hill to do that again. But a few weeks later the same thing happened with the neighbors up the hill. I, of course, did the same thing. I went after him. He saw me coming and as long as I followed him, he wandered on up the hill. When I went home, so did he. But we have that worked out. If he gets off the place I just tell him to get home and he comes. I have to assume that he will do it and he does. He has not done that again. And I will not follow him.

He is always happy. If he is not wagging his tail, he is in some posture that communicates bliss. Even when he is asleep he appears happy. I have been totally blessed by this dog. I cannot imagine a better livestock guarding dog……and friend.

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About Janolyn

I am a mother of 5 wonderful children, 4 boys and 1 girl. During the years that my children were growing up, we grew most of our own food with a vegetable garden, many fruit trees and berry patches. I grew flowers for joy. We milked goats and raised our own meats and eggs. I learned to make my own cheeses, butter, canned foods, sourdough, and fermented foods. I made our own health products like soap, hand creams, lip balm, and herbal tinctures. We live off the power grid and have learned to do without conveniences that most Americans consider essential. The land clearing and building has been mostly accomplished with hand tools; some of them even the right tool for the job.
After a couple of miscarriages between #2 and #3 due to “standard medical procedures”, I consulted a midwife and my last 3 children were born safely at home. That was when I was first alerted to the fact that doctors did not know everything nor would they have the time to share it with their patients if they did. As I learned the basic principles of heath-through-nutrition from my midwife, I learned alternative gardening practices from her husband. That introduction started a lifelong love of learning the practical life of our ancestors. I want to share what I have been learning with you and learn from those who are also living a sustainable life.

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